Charles Grodin
Charles Sidney Grodin (April 21, 1935 – May 18, 2021) was an American actor, comedian, author, and television talk show host. Grodin began his acting career in the 1960s appearing in TV serials including The Virginian. After a small part in Rosemary's Baby in 1968, he played the lead in Elaine May's The Heartbreak Kid (1972) and supporting roles in Mike Nichols's Catch-22 (1970), the 1976 remake of King Kong, and Warren Beatty's Heaven Can Wait (1978).
Known for his deadpan delivery and often cast as a put-upon straight man, Grodin became familiar as a supporting actor in many Hollywood comedies of the era, including Real Life (1979), Seems Like Old Times (1980), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Ishtar (1987), Dave (1993), and Clifford (1994). Grodin co-starred in the action comedy Midnight Run (1988) and in the family film Beethoven (1992). He made frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Late Night with David Letterman.
In the mid-1990s, Grodin retired from acting and wrote autobiographies; he became a talk show host on CNBC and in 2000 a political commentator for 60 Minutes II. He returned to acting with a handful of roles in the mid-2010s, including in Louis C.K.'s FX show Louie and Noah Baumbach's film While We're Young (2014).
Grodin won several awards, including the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special in 1978 for the Paul Simon Special alongside Chevy Chase, Lorne Michaels, Paul Simon, and Lily Tomlin. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for The Heartbreak Kid in 1972. He won Best Actor at the 1988 Valladolid International Film Festival for Midnight Run, and the American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for his performance in Dave in 1993.
Known for
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Brett Forrester
Great Performances
Jake
The Virginian
Arnie Doud
Laverne & Shirley
The Big Valley
Mark Dunigan
The F.B.I.
Carl Platt
The Defenders
Thomas Martin
Heart and Souls
Harrison Winslow
The Great Muppet Caper
Nicky Holiday
The Incredible Shrinking Woman
Vance Kramer
Felony Squad
Waiting for Ishtar
Self
Rosemary's Baby
Dr. Hill
The Meanest Men in the West
Arnie Doud, Harge Gang
The Guns of Will Sonnett
Bells Pickering
Judd for the Defense
The Young Marrieds
Matt Crane Stevens
Taking Care of Business
Spencer Barnes
The Ultimate Collection starring Johnny Carson - The Best of the 70s and 80s
Self (archive footage)
The Michael J. Fox Show
Steve Henry
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Drummer Boy (uncredited)
Beethoven
George Newton
The Woman in Red
Buddy
Char·ac·ter
Self
11 Harrowhouse
Howard R. Chesser
The Comedian
Dick D'Angelo
Midnight Run
Jonathan Mardukas aka “The Duke”
King Kong
Fred S. Wilson
Shane
Jed
Beethoven's 2nd
George Newton
Catch-22
Captain Aarfy Aardvark
Dave
Murray Blum
My Mother the Car
Shelley Duvall's Bedtime Stories
Narrator (voice)
Heaven Can Wait
Tony Abbott
Captain Nice
News Vendor
Madoff
Carl Shapiro
Movers & Shakers
Herb Derman
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen
(archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars
Self
Fresno
Cane Kensington
So I Married an Axe Murderer
Commandeered Car Driver
The Ex
Bob Kowalski
The Great American Dream Machine
Himself
It's My Turn
Homer
While We're Young
Leslie Breitbart
Charles Grodin: Rebel With a Cause
Sunburn
Jake
The Couch Trip
George Matlin
Seems Like Old Times
Ira Parks
The Lonely Guy
Warren
Thieves
Martin Cramer
Ishtar
Jim Harrison
You Can't Hurry Love
Mr. Glerman
An Imperfect Murder
Arthur
The Harmony Game
Self
Charley's Aunt
Lord Fancourt Babberly
Real Life
Warren Yeager
The World of Jim Henson
Nicky Holiday (archive footage)
The Humbling
Jerry
Clifford
Martin Daniels
The Heartbreak Kid
Lenny Cantrow
Last Resort
George Lollar
Sesame Street | All-Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever!
Chaz
It Happened One Christmas
Joseph
Just Me and You
Michael Lindsay
Paul Simon and Friends | The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song
Self
The Muppets at Walt Disney World
Quentin Fitzwaller
It Runs in the Family
Mr. Parker (The Old Man)
Brazzaville Teen-Ager
Father
King Kong! The Living Legend
Self
Sex and the College Girl
Bob
The Grass Is Always Greener Over the Septic Tank
Jim Benson
The Paul Simon Special
Self
Simon and Garfunkel: Songs of America
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Self
The Daily Show
Self
Saturday Night Live
Self - Host